Жила последним летом

Жила последним летом,
хоть нам и невдомёк, -
сочли: не тоньше ль рвенье
исполнило её?..

Сверхжизненная сила
раскрылась изнутри -
всю краткость высветила смерть:
в порыве был надрыв...

Себе, слепым, разились
в слепых для нас местах,
где зримой вехой для глупцов
каррарский мрамор стал...

Легла, к потусклым глуше,
рук не сложа плетьми,
так занята скончаньем,
как шли, досужи, мы...





[David Preest:
Emily admits that she and others have made a mistake.
When they noticed that their friend was busier than
ever during the summer, they thought that her vitality
had been renewed. But when at the summer’s end the
friend died and all that was left to see of her was
her tomb of Carrara marble, it became clear that her
‘tenderer industriousness’ had been directed at doing
the things she most needed to do before she died.]

********************************************
Her final Summer was it -- by Emily Dickinson

Her final Summer was it --
And yet We guessed it not --
If tenderer industriousness
Pervaded Her, We thought

A further force of life
Developed from within --
When Death lit all the shortness up
It made the hurry plain --

We wondered at our blindness
When nothing was to see
But Her Carrara Guide post --
At Our Stupidity --

When duller than our dullness
The Busy Darling lay --
So busy was she -- finishing --
So leisurely -- were We --